Routray Parimita, Torondel Belen, Clasen Thomas, Schmidt Wolf-Peter
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 May 24;12(5):e0178042. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178042. eCollection 2017.
While women and girls face special risks from lack of access to sanitation facilities, their ability to participate and influence household-level sanitation is not well understood. This paper examines the association between women's decision-making autonomy and latrine construction in rural areas of Odisha, India.
We conducted a mixed-method study among rural households in Puri district. This included a cross sectional survey among 475 randomly selected households. These were classified as either having a functional latrine, a non-functional latrine or no latrine at all. We also conducted 17 in-depth interviews and 9 focus group discussions among household members of these three categories of households.
Decisions on the construction of household level sanitation facilities were made exclusively by the male head in 80% of households; in 11% the decision was made by men who consulted or otherwise involved women. In only 9% of households the decision was made by women. Households where women were more involved in general decision making processes were no more likely to build a latrine, compared to households where they were excluded from decisions. Qualitative research revealed that women's non-involvement in sanitation decision making is attributed to their low socio-economic status and inability to influence the household's financial decisions. Female heads lacked confidence to take decisions independently, and were dependent on their spouse or other male family members for most decisions. The study revealed the existence of power hierarchies and dynamics within households, which constrained female's participation in decision-making processes regarding sanitation.
Though governments and implementers emphasize women's involvement in sanitation programmes, socio-cultural factors and community and household level dynamics often prevent women from participating in sanitation-related decisions. Measures are needed for strengthening sanitation policies and effective implementation of programmes to address gender power relations and familial relationships that influence latrine adoption and use.
虽然妇女和女孩因缺乏卫生设施而面临特殊风险，但她们参与和影响家庭层面卫生设施建设的能力却未得到充分了解。本文探讨了印度奥里萨邦农村地区妇女的决策自主权与厕所建设之间的关联。
我们在普里区的农村家庭中开展了一项混合方法研究。这包括对475户随机抽取的家庭进行横断面调查。这些家庭被分为拥有可用厕所、不可用厕所或根本没有厕所的类别。我们还对这三类家庭的家庭成员进行了17次深入访谈和9次焦点小组讨论。
80%的家庭中，家庭层面卫生设施建设的决策完全由男性户主做出；11%的决策由咨询过女性或以其他方式让女性参与的男性做出。只有9%的家庭由女性做出决策。与女性被排除在决策之外的家庭相比，女性更多地参与一般决策过程的家庭建造厕所的可能性并没有更高。定性研究表明，女性不参与卫生设施决策归因于她们较低的社会经济地位以及无法影响家庭的财务决策。女性户主缺乏独立做决策的信心，在大多数决策上依赖配偶或其他男性家庭成员。该研究揭示了家庭内部权力等级制度和动态关系的存在，这限制了女性参与卫生设施相关决策过程。
尽管政府和实施者强调女性参与卫生项目，但社会文化因素以及社区和家庭层面的动态关系往往阻碍女性参与与卫生设施相关的决策。需要采取措施加强卫生政策，并有效实施各项计划，以解决影响厕所采用和使用的性别权力关系及家庭关系问题。
